Troubled Waters
by Forsaken Shadow
Summary: um...basically this is a romance story between the characters in Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 8..there is action thrown in it too ^-^
1. The Arrival

(~*~ I do not own the Final Fantasy characters. The only thing I own is the story, my computer and the chair I sit on~*~)

~*~Balamb Garden-Front Gate~*~

Squall stood alone at the entrance of the Garden in deep thought. He looked up, and saw Cloud and his gang: Tifa, Aeirth, Vincent, RedXIII, Cait Sith, Yuffie, Barret, and Cid, walking to the Garden. Cloud stopped in front of Squall. "Hello. My name is Cloud Strife and I was wondering if my buddies and I could stay here. We are in need of shelter and food." Squall stared at Tifa who was standing next to Aerith brushing a strand of hair out of her face. He looked back to Cloud with a concerned expression on his face and said, "Why are you here and where did you come from? I have never seen you before. Why should I let you into Garden? You might be planning to attack the people here from within the grounds." Cloud sighed. "We came through a dimensional tunnel that led us away from a danger that has been following us around. We do not plan….." Squall glared ant him and shouted, "How can I believe you?! You could be a lying snake trying to cover up it's tracks." Tifa stepped forward and said politely, "Please….let us stay for only two days. After those two are over, we will leave this Garden the way it was before we got here. It will seem like we weren't even here." Squall looked at her and fell silent for a while. Then he said, "My name is Squall by the way. Alright, she has convinced me. All of you may stay here under one condition, don't cause any trouble. I run this Garden and I hate having the disciplinary committee complaining to be about any bad behavior. We will meet my friends inside and then we will show you around." There was a cheer heard throughout the group. Cloud grabbed Tifa's hand and walked past Squall. She glanced at Squall and a warm smile formed on her face as she walked by.

*~*Balamb Garden-inside near the elevator*~*

Squall led the newcomers to the panel near the elevator where he met Zell, Selphie, Quistis, and Irvine. Selphie looked at the guests and welcomed them warmly to the Garden while Zell held her close because he noticed Cid checking her out. "Hiya!! Welcome to Balamb Garden. I'm Selphie and this is Zell. Over there is Quistis and to the left of me is Irvine. With everyone acquainted, the touring of the Garden began. Selphie and Zell showed Red XIII and Cait Sith the Library, Quistis showed Vincent, Cid and Barret the Cafeteria, Irvine showed Aerith and Yuffie the Dormitories (don't worry nothing happened….I think ^-^), while Squall showed Tifa and Cloud the Training Center.

~*~Quad-late night~*~

Squall sat on the stage in deep thought once again. "That girl Tifa….is very beautiful…." He sighed, "but I think she's with that Cloud guy…." Then a figure entered the Quad. It walked to Squall and he recognized the figure. "Tifa?" The figure stepped into the light. It was indeed Tifa. She was wearing the same white halter top and black mini skirt she had been wearing earlier. "Hey hunk, may I ask what you are doing down here all alone?" He looked at her and motioned for her to sit down. "I'm always here. This is a great place to think." She sat down next to him and placed her head on his shoulder. "You know Squall…you were really nice when you decided to let us stay here. I can't thank you enough for your generous hospitality." He put his arms around her and smiled. They talked for quite some time until they heard the sound of boots against the floor. "THUD." A shadowy figure appeared in front of them; his glowing green eyes looked at them. He smiled, "Well, well, well, Tifa it's been a while, but I told you I would find you. No matter where you were." His long sword was at his side as Tifa gasped. "Y-y-you!! What are you doing alive? You're supposed to be dead!" He picked up his sword and held it to Tifa's neck. "Ah….thanks to Aerith, I was resurrected. I thank you for bringing her back Tifa. By bringing her back you allowed me myself to also be brought back./ I could not pass up the chance to haunt you and eventually kill you since you should have died in that reactor. Now m'lady… I have come for your life." He smiled devilishly. She gulped, "S-S-Seph….." Suddenly everything became pitch black and silent; until a piercing scream was heard throughout the Garden.

(ok…that's the end of this chapter…this is the revised chapter 1! I hope this is better than what I first put up ^-^)


	2. The Unexpected Visitor

(*~* I do not own the Final Fantasy characters. The only thing I own is the story, my computer. and the chair I sit on*~*)

( Hm…where did I leave off? Oh yea there was a piercing scream right? Well I guess I should tell you what happened so here's chapter 2.…I hope you like it ^-^)

Everyone ran to the Quad when they heard the scream except for Aerith, who was in deep prayer in her dorm. "My God…I knew this day would come. Please…let everyone stay alive except for Sephiroth. It is my fault that he's alive once again. I will set things right." She grabbed her staff and walked slowly to the Quad.

~*~Quad~*~

"Someone turn on the lights!!!!" Squall shouted. Seifer walked to the circuit breaker and flipped a switch. "You better be happy now…I never liked taking orders from the likes of you.." he mumbled. Sephiroth dropped his sword and fell on Tifa who was screaming. An arrow was protruding out of his shoulder. He regained his balance and pulled the arrow out of his shoulder. He glared at everyone and crushed the arrow in one hand. "Who had the nerve to shoot me with this arrow?" Squall was too busy trying to get Tifa to stop screaming to hear what Sephiroth said while everyone else looked at each other with questioned looks on their faces. A shadowy figure locked another arrow into her weapon and jumped off the pole she was standing on. She landed near Squall, Tifa and Sephiroth. "I shot the arrow at you. Now I suggest you leave." He looked at the girl with a smirk on his face. "You? Hahaha don't make me laugh. A poor little girl could never hurt me!" She smiled. " My name is Rinoa and I'm not a little girl." She looked to Tifa and then to the others. "Ladies, I think it's time we teach this fool a lesson. Who's with me on this?" Selphie stepped forward, her nunchaku in hand. "Hell yeah!!! let's beat his sorry ass!!!" Quistis smiled and cracked her whip on the floor. " He will taste the tip of my whip soon enough." Yuffie jumped up and down. "Yeah! We'll show him that women are just as strong as men…maybe even stronger!!" Aerith made her way through the crowd. Her warm green eyes turned cold when she saw Sephiroth. She twirled her staff in front of her. "Sephiroth…how dare you follow us here. You were the reason we left our homes. You cause nothing but pain and sorrow. Your evil ways will be destroyed when we kill you." Tifa slipped on her gloves and punched the stage floor creating a huge hole. She looked to Rinoa and nodded. "Let's do this!" Squall looked at Tifa, his eyes opened wide. "Are you sure about this? You might get hurt and…..um……well….." She looked at him and smiled. "Don't worry about me. I can handle this. It's partially my fault he's here wreaking havoc to your peaceful Garden." She sighed. "Oh and sorry about the hole in your stage….I'll fix it after I deal with this minor problem." She kissed his cheek gently, then walked to Rinoa. "Let's take this little fight outside. I don't want to ruin the Garden." Rinoa smiled and nodded. "Right. The fight will be moved outside. Let's go." Sephiroth picked up his sword and walked back into the shadows he came from. "Ladies….I'll be waiting for you." Everyone who was gathered in the Quad slowly made their way outside.

*~*Outside the Garden-early morning*~*

Sephiroth faced Aerith, Tifa, Yuffie, Selphie, Rinoa, and Quistis. He smirked and said, "This fight will last as long as it takes you to kill me or for me to kill you. The fight will begin on the count of three. Cloud, be the pitiful fool you are and count to three….if you can." Cloud looked at Sephiroth with hatred in his eyes.

"ONE"

"TWO….."

(ok end of chapter 2. Sorry to leave you hanging like that at the end but it's a great place to stop. You'll have to wait til chapter 3 to find out what happens…don't forget to r & r… oh and if you don't like my story don't review it..thanx I would appreciate it ^-^)


	3. The Battle

(A/N- Sorry it took so long for me to get this uploaded…I was having some trouble with my computer. Well I better stop talking and let you read the final chapter to this story.)

Disclaimer- ah well you know the whole drill already

"Three!"

Selphie, Rinoa, Quistis. and Yuffie began attacking Sephiroth. Aerith stood in deep prayer. Tifa looked at her curiously. "Aerith, what are you doing?! We're supposed to be helping them fight!" Aerith looked at her and scowled. "Damn it Tifa! You want Sephiroth dead right? Well help me pray and leave him to me." Tifa shrugged and began to pray with Aerith.

*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~THE BATTLE RAGES ON~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Yuffie used her limit, Clear Tranquil, to heal everyone (cept for Sephiroth. I just thought you should know ^_^) while Selphie, Rinoa, an Quistis prepared to cast Ultima at the same time. They all casted Ultima, leaving Sephiroth in the middle of the attack. "Is it over yet?" Yuffie said anxiously. An evil laugh was heard and Sephiroth stepped out of the Ultima attack unharmed. With one slash of his sword, he had Selphie, Quistis, Rinoa, and Yuffie out of his way. "Pathetic fools. I told you to stay out of my way. You are all lucky I decided not to kill you….I only came here for Aerith and Tifa!" Sephiroth smirked and walked slowly towards Aerith and Tifa while Zell, Irvine, Seifer, and Red XIII attended to the wounded.

Aerith held her staff in front of her and said, "Stay away Sephiroth….if you come any closer, I will be forced to kill you." Sephiroth laughed. "You must be joking. You kill me? Hahahahahahaha!! I think I'll take my chances and come closer to you two." As Sephiroth approached, Aerith's staff began to glow with holy power. Tifa stopped praying and looked at the staff . Sephiroth stopped in front of them and said, "Okay now which one of you want to die first?" Tifa smirked and looked at Sephiroth. "I don't think me or Aerith are going to b dying today….or at least that's my theory." He laughed and held the tip of his sword to Tifa's throat. "Your smart remark chose you as the first to go." Squall looked to Tifa and whispered to himself, " Tifa….." She smiled. "Well then Sephiroth I guess this is your chance to finish what you started at the reactor that day… or are you going to screw up just like last time?" He glared at her. "What happened at the reactor is ancient history…this is something I've been waiting to do for the longest time." He pressed his sword harder against her throat, cutting it slightly. Blood trickled down her neck. She smiled at him. "You must be proud that you made me bleed. Well now it's my turn to make you bleed a hell of a lot more than this!" She grabbed Aerith's glowing staff and ran it through Sephiroth. He dropped his sword and looked down at the staff. It had gone clear though his body and was protruding out of his back. He slumped to the ground gasping for breath. "Tifa….you and Aerith are….far stronger and braver….than I ever imagined. I underestimated you…so now I take my leave from this world." Sephiroth's glowing green eyes began to dim; until he lay there, cold, lifeless….. a dead corpse. Tifa slowly pulled the staff out of his body. It had stopped glowing but was now covered in blood. She handed it to Aerith. "Sorry for taking your staff but I was acting on my instincts." Aerith smiled and said happily, "If it wasn't for your quick thinking…we would be dead right now."

Squall ran over to Tifa and hugged her. "For a minute there I thought I was going to loose you forever." She smiled. "You will never loose me." She kissed him until she heard a voice. "Woo hoo! You did it girl! No more Sephiroth." Selphie said with a half smile on her face. She was supported up by Zell and the other stood behind her. Cheering and laughter could be heard form the group.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~MONTHS PASS~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Garden returned to normal…. almost. Cloud and his gang were invited to stay at the Garden for as long as they like. Cloud is happily dating Aerith and can be seen together anywhere in the Garden, Selphie and Zell are happy together working in the Cafeteria, Rinoa and Seifer run the disciplinary committee, Cait Sith and Red XIII help Quistis run classes, Irvine and Yuffie can be found in the Quad most of the time, running plays and other stuff, Barret and Vincent seemed to have disappeared but have been seen outside of Balamb Garden, and Squall and Tifa are living happily together and have never been seen apart since the battle with Sephiroth.

(A/N-Well that's it for this story. I hope you liked it cuz I know I had a great time writing it. I'll try to get my next story up ASAP but I can't promise anything at the moment. Ja ne for now! ~*~Shadow Tigress~*~)


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